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Isa Soares Tonight
Rescue Efforts Intensify After Floods Hit Nepal-China Border; New Lake Created by Landslides Threatens a Second Disaster; Top A.I. Chip Maker Sales Soar; Judge Holds Hearing on Returning Trump Name to Kennedy Center. Aired 2:00-3p ET
Aired August 27, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
MAX FOSTER, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Max Foster in for Isa Soares. Tonight, devastation after a
catastrophic flood situation in Nepal. And there are fears that a newly formed lake could break its banks.
Waiting for a verdict in a murder trial. Will a jury hold Lindsay Clancy responsible for the death of her three children?
As search efforts intensify and the death toll climbs in Nepal and China, there are urgent concerns that a dam created during the initial mudslide
could break, causing new flooding downstream. China's Ministry of Water Resources says a so-called barrier lake is now developing where rivers meet
along the border with Nepal and Chinese-controlled Tibet.
That region was wiped out by the landslide. The Ministry says the barrier lake contains a massive amount of water and more is expected from rain
forecast for the next three days. More rain would make search and rescue efforts increasingly difficult.
More than 1,300 people are missing after the catastrophic flash-flooding hit the region, including at least 700 foreigners. The death toll in Nepal
has climbed to more than 350. Efforts to find any survivors now include the use of drones.
Police say teams have been sent to Central Nepal, with some overseeing flight operations. Emergency responders have been dealing with a lack of
connectivity, road outages and dwindling resources.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOPAL SEDAIN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN NEUROSURGERY, TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL: Until now, we have received 31 patients. The situation
problem is because the road connectivity is lost. We are getting all the patients by heli rescue. If there was road connection, we would be
expecting more and more patients. But let's see if anything can be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, for a first-hand look at the destruction in Nepal. CNN's Hanako Montgomery toured one village that's struggling to survive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So, over there in the distance is the Trishuli River, which is the river that
flooded and killed we now know over a 100 people and left hundreds more missing.
And if you can take a look over here, there is just a massive layer of mud and debris over what used to be green rice fields. This all used to be
green valley, and now it's just covered in debris and in mud. And just behind me here, a team of police officers have arrived.
They're ascertaining the extent of damage, and they're speaking to local villagers about who might need rescuing, who might need some assistance.
We're told that the local mayor is also here to provide the police with more information.
And I just want to show you just how extensive this damage was. And you can tell here, just even on this road, at least, over 100 meters away from the
actual river, you can see the mud has come up. It's blocked off parts of the road.
We can't actually go any further than this because the extent of damage is just that bad. We're told that if we were to try to go further, it could be
a risk to our lives. So, we're staying here for now. But the extent of economic damage, the extent of lives lost, is just immeasurable at the
moment.
And of course, Nepal, the government still trying to ascertain just how many people have died and still trying to rescue those who might need -- in
desperate need of assistance. So, I'm walking down one of the main roads in Nepal, and this entire place used to be covered in mud.
They've cleared part of it now, and I want to show you some of the damage that we've been seeing. This house, I mean, its first floor is completely
submerged in flood water. You can see some of the windows and doors just caked in mud.
This house over here, I mean, its walls have completely collapsed. It's unlivable. And down here is a gas station. And again, just completely
inaccessible and totally destroyed by this flood water and the mud and debris that are brought with it.
Now, the Nepali government has said that several hundred people have been confirmed dead. Several hundred more still missing. And they are afraid
that the death toll could tick up in the coming hours and days, as they are still trying to find any remaining survivors.
[14:05:00]
And this village that we're currently in, is actually several dozen kilometers away from the worst of the damage. So, you can imagine if you
get higher up in the Himalayan Mountains, just how many people have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their loved ones, and now they're left
with very little trying to find any remnants of hope, any remnants of their family members as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: A devastating assessment from UNICEF on young people affected by the flood. The representative for the organization in Nepal says the lives
of at least 17,000 children have been impacted. UNICEF reports children in Nepal now face heightened risks of disease and malnutrition.
The UN's Humanitarian Chief says emergency teams have been mobilized and more are on standby to assist in relief efforts for all flood victims. That
includes water, medical kits and emergency shelter for three months.
Tom Fletcher is Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. Thank you so much
for joining us, Tom. I know -- you know, one of the great challenges here is just making an assessment about what people need because they can't get
close to many of the disaster zones as Hanako was describing.
TOM FLETCHER, UNDER SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS, UNITED NATIONS & UN EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: That's exactly right. I mean,
so much of the infrastructure has been smashed up by the ferocity of these floods. So, we're struggling to use the access roads that we would normally
use to get to these communities.
We're having to use a lot of air assets to reach them, but we've got teams on the ground fighting their way through. I was in touch earlier on with
our humanitarian country team, and many of them are on the road to those areas to try and get as realistic an assessment as we can of what's needed.
The immediate priority is saving as many lives as we can, getting those emergency response teams in. And then it's the medicine, it's the health,
it's the water, the sanitation, the shelter for those who've been displaced. It's a massive job.
FOSTER: How concerned are you about this concern that the Chinese government has expressed about a second potential flood? Because, you know,
you've got people going in. You've got to care about them, of course, but you've also got that priority of rescuing survivors.
FLETCHER: So, I've been in Beijing and spent time with the teams that are preparing China and the region for climate disasters like exactly this. And
they've got very sophisticated technology. We're also using very sophisticated satellite technology right now to try and anticipate the
danger ahead.
And I think we should take those warnings very seriously. We're encouraging people to get to high ground, get to safer areas, get away from places
where we could see more glaciers melting fast and more rapid overflow and more flooding.
FOSTER: We're looking at the images of the mud here. It's been described as liquid concrete. Just describe the challenge your people on the ground
are facing just with wading through it. It's not like wading through a normal flood, is it?
FLETCHER: That's right. It's a very challenging terrain for them to be -- to be navigating right now. Of course, many of those search and rescue
teams globally, you know, these are teams that we train up who prepare for moments just like this and in anticipation of conditions just like this.
I was recently in Venezuela with many of those teams at La Guaira, seeing their operation, working alongside drones in terrible conditions to pull
people out of the earthquake there. And I was in the high mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan with communities who are preparing alongside us for
exactly this kind of glacial lake overflow.
So, we have anticipated these kinds of disasters, but nothing can prepare you for how difficult the conditions will really be. And my thoughts are
with my colleagues and my admiration for their courage in going towards that danger in order to find as many survivors as possible.
FOSTER: Yes, what's the most urgent need now? What do governments need to be considering?
FLETCHER: So, we need people to get behind the emergency funds, so we can then deploy in an agile way that funding to where it's most needed day-to-
day. Right now, it's -- as I say, the emergency response teams finding the survivors, but then it turns towards health, water, sanitation.
We've got teams, World Health Organization getting support to ten thousand families right now. Medical kits. We've got teams you mentioned, our
brilliant colleagues at UNICEF just now. There's UNICEF teams, World Food Program teams heading towards those communities with food and nutrition.
We've got our colleagues from the shelter cluster trying to get tents and shelter to those who've been displaced. The needs evolve over time, but
those are our immediate priorities right now. Our job is then to prioritize where the help is needed most, and then flex that support in an agile way
as the crisis develops.
[14:10:00]
FOSTER: OK, Tom Fletcher at the UN, appreciate your time tonight, thank you for joining us. I know how busy you are. Now --
FLETCHER: Thanks --
FOSTER: Elsewhere, the former Bosnian-Serb General who orchestrated the massacre in Srebrenica has died in prison at the age of 84. Ratko Mladic,
known as the Butcher of Bosnia, was serving a life sentence at The Hague.
He was convicted of genocide and other atrocities in 2017, including the slaughter of thousands of Muslims during the Bosnian war. Today, the head
of the Srebrenica Memorial responded to Mladic's death, saying, quote, "it doesn't bring back the dead. It doesn't clear mass graves; it does not
change judgments".
He says it marks a moment in which we must decide that we will remember, and, more importantly, what we will not allow to be erased. Nic Robertson
has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RATKO MLADIC, LATE FORMER BOSNIAN-SERB GENERAL (through translator): Don't be afraid. No one will do anything to you.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): This is how the world will remember Ratko Mladic calming crowds of civilians ahead
of the biggest mass murder in Europe since World War II, a genocide he engineered and would go on the run for a decade and a half before being
captured and brought to trial.
It was July 1995 in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, the country's bloody civil war was in its third year. Mladic commanded the Bosnian-Serb army,
his forces brutally slaughtered more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica.
Mladic's central and blood-soaked role in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia began years earlier, a frontline commander in 1991, spearheading
Serb forces against Croatia.
(ARTILLERY FIRE)
ROBERTSON: Over the previous three decades, he had risen rapidly through the ranks of the Yugoslav army. But it was Bosnia's battlefields that made
him hero to many Serbs. Defender of their dwindling fortunes.
He was born in 1943 during the Nazis World War II occupation, close to the crucible of much of his later killing, Bosnia's capital, Sarajevo. He grew
up imbued with Serbian ideology of orthodox Christian faith and defense of ethnic kin.
He got his chance in May 1992, Bosnia's Serbian political leaders picked him to head their forces. Bosnia's Muslim leaders wanted independence, the
Serbs to remain part of Yugoslavia. Mladic laid siege to Sarajevo --
(ARTILLERY FIRE)
ROBERTSON: Shelling and sniping its poorly prepared civilian population. More than a quarter million people died in the course of the three-year
war, leading to charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, against Mladic.
When peace came in 1995, Mladic went on the run. In the early 2000s, he was still drawing an army pension in Belgrade. There were reports of sightings,
rumors of arrest, a stroke, even suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROBERTSON: But eventually, in the Summer of 2011, he was captured living on a Serbian farm with a cousin.
MLADIC (through translator): I am General Ratko Mladic.
ROBERTSON: At last, he was brought into the dock in the tribunal in The Hague. His right arm appeared limp, almost useless. During the hearings
that followed, he would complain of fatigue and illness, citing past heart problems. But Mladic remained combative and uncooperative.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Mladic, if you --
MLADIC: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROBERTSON: He was removed from court during his sentencing, shouting it was all lies. In November 2017, he was convicted, handed life in prison for
genocide and crimes against humanity. His death ends one of the darkest chapters in Europe's recent history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: This just in. U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America. The lake is one of the five
great lakes of North America. It borders the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York.
The President said the change would take effect immediately. The move comes after trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed last week, with
each side blaming the other for derailing negotiations. CIA Chief John Ratcliffe went to Moscow this week to warn Russia against attacking NATO
territory.
[14:15:00]
Both American and European officials have grown increasingly worried about a potential Russian operation in NATO. But when asked about fears of an
attack, U.S. President Donald Trump denied this was the intent of Ratcliffe's trip.
The President called it semi-routine. The last known trip by a CIA Director to Russia was Bill Burns under the Biden Administration in 2021. Burns
warned Russia against launching a war with Ukraine. Russia didn't listen, of course. Still to come tonight on the show, fighting for his political
life.
We'll break down the polls and see what would need to happen in Israel's upcoming elections for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold on to
power. And later, jury deliberations are underway in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. We'll take a look at the closing arguments from both sides.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Just two months from now, Israelis will decide the future direction of their country after years with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu at the helm. He's fighting for his political life, as many polls show him lagging behind the opposition.
Israel traditionally governs by coalition and voters don't directly choose a leader. That means the legislative elections on October the 27th will
determine not only who serves in parliament or the Knesset, but also which parties get to form the ruling coalition.
Sixty-one seats are needed for a majority, former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot, leader of their centrist Yashar Party, is currently polling
as Mr. Netanyahu's main challenger. Israel's "Channel 11" projects that his bloc would get 57 seats, compared to about 50 seats for the Prime
Minister's coalition.
"Channel 12" projects an even greater victory for that first bloc with 59 seats. But as you can see, Eisenkot would still need to recruit other
parties to put his coalition over the top there. That means that smaller parties in this coalition could prove to be kingmakers.
We're joined now by political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin; she's a Fellow at the Century Foundation based in Tel Aviv. Appreciate you joining us today.
So, question is, does Netanyahu --
DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, POLITICAL ANALYST & FELLOW, CENTURY FOUNDATION: Thank you for having me --
FOSTER: Actually, have a path to victory when we look at these polls? Of course, the polls aren't always right.
SCHEINDLIN: The polls aren't always right. And at present, I would be very cautious about what we can actually know about the polls, primarily not
because the voters are so undecided, although many still are.
[14:20:00]
But mostly because the party system is so unstable right now, almost every day or every week for the last two weeks or so, it seems like we hear about
a new party, largely from the right-wing, trying to capture the attention of right-wing voters who may be disenchanted with Netanyahu.
And so, there's a lot of mix-and-match going on. The parties might change, they might merge, they might, you know, bring in star figures. And so, one
thing is that we have to be careful. We don't really know who people will be voting for, even in polls until those parties are stable.
Having said that, Netanyahu is -- it's getting harder and harder for him to find pathways to victory. As you pointed out, his coalition is really
polling only between about 48-49, up to maybe 51 or 2 seats out of 120.
They need 61. And he's not close to that, except for the most flattering right-wing leaning polls. And even in those polls, the current coalition is
not able to get what it had in the 2022 elections, and it has no upward motion in one right-wing poll, you know, regularly that coalition does seem
to get a majority, but that's widely seen as a biased poll.
And there are hundreds of others. So, I go with a preponderance of evidence that he will have a very hard time forming a coalition under the current
circumstances. But again, there is a lot that's in flux, and it's not at all sure that the opposition parties, who currently hold a majority in the
overwhelming number of surveys, can find a way to, you know, make the right deals needed to form a majority government.
FOSTER: And we have this very interesting element of Israeli politics that is so fractured, isn't it? These smaller parties often have such a big
impact on the overall result, but they need something like 3.25 percent, I think, don't they? Of the vote to make it into parliament. And quite often
--
SCHEINDLIN: Yes, they need exactly 3.25 percent --
FOSTER: They're hovering around that figure. So, what should we -- what should we be looking out for there? Because actually that's going to be the
interesting part if we look at how these coalitions are made up.
SCHEINDLIN: It is very interesting. A party, pretty much the minimum number of parliamentary seats they can get if they cross that 3.25 percent
threshold is four seats. So, they either cross 3.25 and get four seats, or they get nothing.
What you should be looking for is the next important date, September 8th, when the party lists have to be closed and final, and then we will know
actually what the parties are, how many of them are these small parties hovering around the threshold.
There are so many right now, we're talking about five or six that are at least on people's minds. Many of them are from the right wing. And there's
a big question right now, because Netanyahu is very concerned that those small new right-wing parties are primarily taking away parties from within
his coalition, not helping to grow it, at least not so far.
So, I would be looking for September 8th when the party lists closed. I would be looking out for which of those small right-wing parties, many of
them brand new, are anywhere near the 3.25 threshold. And if they're getting 3.25 percent at the expense of Netanyahu's existing coalition, or
whether they're bringing in anybody from the current opposition.
So far, we have very little indication of that. They seem to be pulling mainly from the coalition parties.
FOSTER: Yes, it's going to be fascinating, isn't it? The politics of Israel. It really is always interesting, these elections. Dahlia
Scheindlin, really appreciate you joining us today. Now, jury deliberations underway in the murder trial against Lindsay Clancy.
She's the U.S. woman who has admitted to killing her three young children. The jury has to decide if Clancy's poor mental health led her to kill her
children, and if she actually knew right from wrong. Clancy's lawyer pointed to her journal entries and testimony from a forensic psychiatrist.
He said Clancy was frankly psychotic and could not be held criminally responsible for her children's deaths. The prosecution says Clancy's
actions leading up to the murders disprove that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wasn't making chicken --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER SPRAGUE, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, PLYMOUTH COUNTY: So, why did she specifically do it? She was depressed. She was exhausted. She was
done. She didn't want to try anymore. She felt damaged.
But those kids, those kids were her protective factor. Those kids were keeping her from ending her misery. And so, she had to remove the
protective factor. And I'm not saying she was happy about it. I'm saying that it was what she had to do to end her misery. But it was a choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Brynn Gingras has been following all of this. I mean -- I mean, such a tough one, isn't it, Brynn? For the --
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes --
FOSTER: For the jury. Because they know who killed the children. And in an ordinary case, it would be pretty clear-cut. But the defense have made
quite a compelling case around whether or not there was the intent there, too.
[14:25:00]
GINGRAS: Yes, I mean, that's right, Max. I mean, what she just said like that, she knew that she wanted to really go forward with killing herself,
but she had to kill her children first in order to go through with that. That's what the prosecution is arguing.
And the fact that she knew means that she was of the state of mind to commit these killings, and she knew what she was doing was wrong. And
that's what they're arguing. And that's what they spent their entire about an hour or so of closing arguments trying to prove -- going through the
moments of that day, January 24th, 2023, the day the kids were killed.
And then she had that failed suicide attempt. It was pretty emotional in court. I'm not going to lie to you. I mean, there, I was in court, but
watching it, there were people crying and we have reporters inside the courtroom who said that there were jurors who were even crying.
Lindsay Clancy was crying. It was a very emotionally-charged -- on both sides of the defense and the prosecution. I want you to hear more from
these closing arguments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN REDDINGTON, ATTORNEY FOR LINDSAY CLANCY: How does this turn into this? How? Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care that she
got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: And you could see the emotion pouring out of the defense attorney there. I mean, he said, this is a young lady who has done nothing wrong in
her entire life. And he's like, I have, you know, criminal defendants all the time. And I can't say that about everybody.
So, why would she do this? That's the big question that he's trying to put in the minds of jurors. Of course, the burden of proof rests on the
Commonwealth. They're the ones who have to prove why she would have done this.
So, again, a lot to consider here. We now know the makeup of the jurors, Max. There are nine women, three men. There were 18 total jurors listening
to the entire case, but of course, only 12 will deliberate. So, mainly women, I can tell you that there was a line forming outside the courthouse
beginning at 2:30 this morning, Eastern Time, of people trying to get into the courtroom to watch these closing arguments.
Of course, some of those people were journalists, but our reporters there also tell us that there were women who were there to support Lindsay
Clancy, never mind her family members, priests, other people who have been by her side this entire time.
There were moments where she was trembling while these closing arguments were happening. Usually that happened every time they talked about her
children. Kevin Reddington even said that in his closing arguments, this is a woman who is still grieving the fact that this even happened.
So, there's a lot to be considered by those 12 jurors. They are deliberating now, they just started deliberating. Obviously, we never know
when they'll finish, but as soon as we have some sort of question or maybe even a verdict, we'll get back to you.
FOSTER: Yes, we can get some indications coming from the questions quite often, but thank --
GINGRAS: Yes --
FOSTER: You so much, Brynn, back with you --
GINGRAS: Right --
FOSTER: As we get updates. Still to come tonight on the show, why a second disaster threat in the Nepal-China border region is front and center of
mind of rescuers there. Plus, a new push to get President Trump's name back on the Kennedy Center, facing a challenge in court. We'd have details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Max Foster. More on our top story now, as more than 1,300 people are still missing after catastrophic
flash flooding hit Nepal and China on Wednesday. The death toll in Nepal has climbed to more than 350 people as a lack of connectivity and power
hampers search and rescue efforts.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham says the U.K. will be there for Nepal, offering to send emergency responders along with nearly $7 million worth of
aid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yes, these are such distressing scenes coming out of Nepal, and we feel for the people there and everything
that they're going through at this moment in time. Such devastation of communities and already, sadly it seems, such huge loss of life.
In the past, Nepal has been there for Britain in our hour of need, and we will be there for Nepal in its hour of need right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Among those missing are at least 700 foreigners from two dozen countries, the area very popular tourists for trekking. Sagar Pandey is the
founder of the Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Company. He tells my colleague Becky Anderson he's lost all contact with his tour group of 47
people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAGAR PANDEY, CEO, HIMALAYAN GLACIER ADVENTURE AND TRAVEL COMPANY: They're still missing, no contact, no phone, nothing. So, their families and
friends are calling and loved ones calling, you know, since yesterday morning. So, that's no clue. That's -- myself, I've been on the affected
area yesterday with a chopper to spot out their location and where they stayed in that 9:00 in the morning.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
PANDEY: So, since, you know, eight o'clock, the last time I spoke with them since then, they are totally disconnected. Even my staff and all the
clients.
ANDERSON: So, where were your tour group from? Where were most of the people from? Where are the co-workers from? And where were they very
specifically when this flooding happened?
PANDEY: So, that's there are pretty mixed and like 10 Nepalese people. So, you know, 15 Australian, eight Americans and Canadians to Singaporean
peoples. So, 11 people were traveling from the place called the Syapru Basin all the way towards the Nepal-China border called Rasuwagadhi. And 36
people, they stayed in Rasuwagadhi at the hotel named Hotel Kailas. So, they're having the breakfast when the, you know, flood happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Landslides have created a new lake as well, threatening a second disaster. One county along the China-Nepal border still faces a risk of
landslides, mudslides and flash flooding. Three days of rain are expected and collapsed earth is forming unstable dams there. This drone footage by
CCTV shows a lake forming in the scar left by a previous landslide.
Let's get more on this. I want to bring in our chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir. I mean, a very unusual circumstance here, right, Bill? Because,
you know, our weather team yesterday was, you know, they were describing it as an uphill tsunami that gushed back down. You've got all the mud involved
as well. And I believe the glacier is central to the investigation here.
[14:35:00]
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And, you know, since 2021, Max, there have been three major GLOF events, G-L-O-F, that's
Glacier Lake Outburst Flood, where these picturesque mountain lakes usually held back by earthen dams become too swollen and it just gives way and
takes out communities below.
What you're describing now that's developing is a barrier lake almost. And it's the threat of almost an instant GLOF, which this lake didn't exist two
days ago. And now, it is, according to the ministry there in China, 2 million cubic meters of water and expected this rainfall.
Now, as monsoon rains kick back up and add an extra 3 million cubic meters to that just improvised lake up there and adding a second wave in addition
to all the moisture of the rain. So, really, the disaster feels like it's just beginning for those poor souls there.
But meanwhile, you know, around the world, Juneau, Alaska, the capital of Alaska, just was on had a state of emergency a couple of weeks ago because
the Mendenhall Glacier was threatening to flood. There was a village in Switzerland that was flattened by a falling glacier last summer. Another
one is looking up every day. So, in the Alpine regions of the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Hindu Kush, those are mountain ranges that are warming faster
than average.
FOSTER: Were you surprised about the power of this wave as it came through those villages and the sheer volume of water and mud it created?
WEIR: Absolutely. My first impression was it must have been a glacier lake that just burst and some massive reservoir upstream. But our satellite
analysis at CNN looks like this, you know, a slice of this giant piece of ice, these rivers of ice, a thousand meters across, just sluiced off,
brought the mountaintop down with it.
It falls a thousand, couple thousand meters down of vertical feet, picking up all this speed. At one point, it was traveling at 120 miles an hour. And
so, it just it looked like truly a tsunami so far from the coastline. But this is what, you know, changing water cycles look like even in the highest
communities in the world.
FOSTER: Bill, I appreciate your thoughts on that as we await to see whether or not there will be a follow up disaster. It's so grim. Thanks for
joining us, Bill.
Still to come tonight on the show, the world's top A.I. chipmaker, the expectations doubling revenue from a year ago as the A.I. industry booms.
And what would be your favorite office? How about a yacht? We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:40:00]
FOSTER: NVIDIA has doubled its sales in the past year as it continues to thrive in the A.I. boom. The chipmaker earned more than $96 billion in a
quarter. The good news led stocks to soar. Here's how they're doing right now. Still up nearly 8 percent. And beyond NVIDIA, let's take a look at how
the U.S. markets are doing today. All three major indices are in the green. As you can see, the NASDAQ up most sharply.
Let's bring in Anna Stewart for this, because it does feel as though NVIDIA is sort of holding up the hold of the NASDAQ right now.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly leading the way. And there was a bit of nervousness, I think, going into the earnings yesterday with
NVIDIA, simply because we are used to NVIDIA beating expectations time after time. And there surely has to come a point at which, you know,
expectations aren't quite met.
But it wasn't this time. Revenue was expected to double versus the quarter last year. But actually, it even more than doubled. Its data center
business was doing very well and revenue for the year ahead was looking very good. They're expecting revenue to grow 70 percent next year, which
isn't beating expectations. That is absolutely smashing expectations.
And actually, I think one of the most interesting parts of the earnings call was when they said that earnings growth, a revenue would be even
stronger if it weren't for supply constraints. Some of the constraints around supply chain are obviously to do with the memory chips. Those are
made by companies like Samsung Electronics, Micron, SK Hynix. Demand is very strong and capacity currently just isn't keeping up.
As a result, the memory chip area, which is used by companies like NVIDIA very heavily in A.I., are a little bit more expensive. So, they do expect
some sort of margin growth narrowing in the next year. That was a minor, minor cloud on the horizon for NVIDIA. But clearly, overall, pretty good
earnings, Max.
FOSTER: But we're sort of grouping a lot of these shares into tech and there's two very different stories going on within that market, right?
STEWART: Yes, we have the big traditional, you know, big tech companies. You think Alphabet, Microsoft, and then we have the big A.I. companies. We
also -- actually an interesting story at the moment is software companies. There had been this year this big fear that when we look at some of the
traditional software companies like Adobe, Workday, Salesforce, that they were going to be made, frankly, obsolete by A.I., because particularly at
work, many of us are using A.I. to automate all sorts of things that some of these software companies were a solution for. Salesforce was hit
particularly hard.
And we can show you actually a chart. This is Salesforce and Adobe this year. The fear of what was being known as the SaaS apocalypse, SaaS being
software as a service, really hit shares. They were all down around 30 percent earlier this year. There has been a comeback and actually
Salesforce had earnings out yesterday as well. Share prices up around 22 percent today. And that's because not only is A.I. not killing off
Salesforce, they're actually going to use Claude. They've launched Claude Force, which is going to make it even stronger.
FOSTER: Anna, thank you so much. Now, just two months after a federal judge forced the Kennedy Center board to remove U.S. President Donald
Trump's name from the front of the building. Lawyers for the venue have returned to court to fight to add his name back on again. This hour, a
judge is considering an emergency request to block that from happening. The request was filed by a Democratic congresswoman and Kennedy Center board
member who calls the new push to add the name a breathtaking act of defiance of Congress and the court.
Let's go to Sunlen Serfaty party in Washington for more on this, because I can't keep up with this one, Sunlen. Where are we?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Drama around the Kennedy Center and it continues today. This hearing, as you mentioned, is going on
right now. And according to our reporters who are in the room, it is packed. The commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, is there speaking to the
importance of this moment for President Trump himself, who is certainly taking a extreme focus on this building and remaking it in his name.
And it is this question on the of the name President Donald Trump. Does it should it be allowed to go on the side of the Kennedy Center or not? That
really is at the crux of so much of the controversy around the Kennedy Center.
[14:45:00]
Now, we are hearing right now from the judge and the lawyers for the plaintiffs go back and forth. And really, we are we have not gotten any
indication on how the judge may rule, whether it be today or in the days coming up. But it is this question over the name. The DOJ, the Department
of Justice lawyers, are arguing that they want to go ahead and put on the inscription saying renovated and restored by President Donald Trump on the
front of the building to acknowledge him, they say, for what he's done or what he will do to renovate the building.
And the plaintiffs are arguing that still amounts to acknowledging him as a name on the side of the building. So, it really is going to come down to
what the judge thinks. In this case, we will see what they have to say. Again, this is an ongoing hearing that's unfolding as we speak. There also,
of course, is the question over the two-year closure of the Kennedy Center.
That's something the administration wants. That's something that other folks say that they cannot move to do unilaterally. And they have
threatened this week the lawyers from the Department of Justice. They threatened in saying that the Kennedy Center may need to be demolished
completely if the judge stands in the way of them renovating it. So, a lot at play here. Max, certainly one more chapter in this very long book of the
Kennedy Center.
FOSTER: We wait the updates, still to come tonight. Thank you, Sunlen. Most call this a yacht. Its owner calls it a boat. We'll introduce you to
the U.S. ambassador to Italy who enjoys a spot of maritime diplomacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Last year, a new U.S. ambassador to Italy was appointed. 69-year- old Texan billionaire Tilman Fertitta. Now, he is the owner of the NBA team, the Houston Rockets, as well as being a reality TV star. Becky
Anderson travelled to Italy to meet him on his $450 million yacht called the Boardwalk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TILMAN FERTITTA, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ITALY: I've always been a little humble, and I don't like using the word yacht. So, I just say my boat.
ANDERSON (voice-over): In the industry, they call it a giga-yacht. This vessel, with swimming pools, spa, putting green, and two helipads, worth
$450 million.
ANDERSON: Hello, Becky Anderson. How lovely to meet you.
FERTITTA: Nice to meet you.
[14:50:00]
ANDERSON (voice-over): Its owner is Tilman J. Fertitta.
FERTITTA: How often do you get to have a playroom and a boat?
ANDERSON (voice-over): And this summer, the boat is his family home and office.
FERTITTA: It's kind of funny when people think, oh, all you do is shake hands. It's a real busy job.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Fertitta is a new face in American diplomacy. Owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets and a sprawling hospitality empire, he's one
of America's richest businessmen.
FERTITTA: I always said, you know, by the time I was 35, I wanted to have my first jet. By the time I was 40, I had already taken the company public
and rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange.
ANDERSON: How long have you known Donald Trump?
FERTITTA: Believe it or not, our first deal was in 1999 when I did a rainforest cafe in the Trump Plaza Casino. Then the Trump Marina came due,
and I bought that property from him in the early 2000s.
ANDERSON (voice-over): In the past, the ambassador has donated to Republicans and Democrats.
ANDERSON: What are your personal politics, Tom?
FERTITTA: I'm definitely a conservative and -- but if you go back and you look at Bill Clinton back then, he would have been a conservative. Politics
has gone too far to each direction, but I'm very happy with a lot that our president has done.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Missives from President Trump are often hard for America's allies to hear.
GIORGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: So, we are trying to do our best. But I think we can --
ANDERSON (voice-over): After an initial love-in with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni --
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: She's a beautiful young woman.
ANDERSON (voice-over): -- world politics and a personality clash have brought the long-standing alliance back down to earth.
FERTITTA: He doesn't look at it as, well, I don't want to ruffle anybody's feathers in NATO, I want everybody to love me. He's looking at it as a
business guy and saying, this isn't right.
ANDERSON (voice-over): When Meloni joined other E.U. leaders in refusing to join the U.S. war on Iran, Italian front pages spoke of a rift, even a
divorce, between Italy and the United States. But Ambassador Fertitta says their partnership is as robust as ever.
FERTITTA: There has not been one thing between Italy and America that has been strained while all this is going on. We have an unbelievable military
relationship with America and Italy, but our president is very upset with the majority of the NATO nations for not doing what he wanted them to do in
this war. I think that if the United States calls, they should be there, because you know what? President Trump would be there for them.
ANDERSON (voice-over): In June, the spat got personal. Trump claiming Meloni begged for a photo with him at the G7 summit. Two weeks later,
suggesting he needed a, quote, "restraining order against her."
FERTITTA: The president has a great sense of humor. When your family, and that's what we are with NATO nations, families bicker, and that's OK. But
Italy's there for us, and America's there for Italy, and that's just the way it is.
ANDERSON (voice-over): This summer, Fertitta is on, quote, "a coastal diplomacy tour." The cruise around Italy's shores has included a stop in
Cefalu, in Sicily, where his great-grandfather lived before emigrating to the United States.
ANDERSON: Most people at least will perceive you as a pretty unconventional ambassador, and perhaps this sort of coastal trip has sort
of fed into that narrative. You seem quite unapologetic about the sort of, you know, quite lavish lifestyle that you run.
FERTITTA: But I'm not doing this to show off. I'm doing this because it works for American and Italy relationships, and it works for Ambassador
Fertitta's relationships with all the people in these little towns. And Italy loves having an ambassador that has a little cachet, that can get
things done, and is different, and has an Italian heritage. I mean, they love that.
ANDERSON (voice-over): In choppy political waters, getting this job done could be Fertitta's toughest gig yet.
Becky Anderson, CNN, Livorno.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The avant-garde Japanese artist famous for her polka-dot creations has died at the age of 97. Yayoi Kusama was one of contemporary art's most
popular and commercially successful figures. In 2023 alone, her works fetched nearly $200 million at auction. Kusama was born in 1929 into an
abusive and dysfunctional home. She had little formal art training and spent decades living in a psychiatric hospital.
[14:55:00]
But she went on to gain worldwide renown for her pumpkin sculptures, polka- dot motifs, and infinity mirror rooms, which attracted millions of gallery visitors worldwide. Her company, Kusama, continued to paint until her final
days.
Would you eat a cookie made out of plastic? That's the question we're asking tonight. When NASA put out a call for ideas to help feed astronauts
in deep space, researchers at Southern Illinois University came up with the idea of turning plastic into cookies. They took the same common plastic
used in water bottles and combined it with heat, pressure, water, and some genetically engineered yeast to turn it into an edible snack.
It's worth noting that no one has yet eaten one of the cookies. More testing must be done before humans are allowed to consume them. But the
research team says they do smell good.
And finally, tonight, a celebration of the beauty of our natural world. You are looking at some of the top images shortlisted for the 2026 Wildlife
Photographer of the Year competition, from a polar bear peeping through that icy window to this split-second escape as an African bullfrog lunges
for that butterfly. These are a handful of photos from a record-breaking 65,000 entries this year. Winners will be announced this October, and the
full set of images will be showcased in London at the Natural History Museum.
Thanks for watching tonight. Stay with CNN. I'll be back after the break with "What We Know."
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